
"second" is God's will. This He establishes. By this declaration the ceremonial
law is abolished and the moral law established. The first is taken away "that
He may establish the second."
God's will for mankind is contained in His law. To do God's will includes
the keeping of the commandments. It is therefore most.fitting that the psalm-
ist should quote Christ as saying: "I delight to do Thy will, ... yea, Thy law
is within My heart." Ps. 40:8. God's law is so dear to Christ that He cherishes
and protects it in His own heart.
10.
How does Paul elsewhere speak of establishing the law?
Rom. 3:31.
11.
By what are we sanctified? Heb. 10:10, first part.
NOTE.—We are sanctified by the will of God.
"Obedience to the law of God is sanctification.... Sanctification is not an
instantaneous but a progressive work, as obedience is continuous. Just as long
as Satan urges his temptations upon us, the battle for self-conquest will have
to be fought over and over again; but by obedience, the truth will sanctify the
soul."—Ellen G. White, in
Signs of the Times,
May 19, 1890.
"Sanctification means very much more than a flight of feeling. Excitement
is not sanctification. Entire conformity to the will of our Father which is in
heaven is alone sanctification, and the will of God is expressed in His holy law.
The keeping of all the commandments of God is sanctification. Proving your-
selves obedient children to God's word is sanctification. The word of God is
to be our guide, not the opinions or ideas of men. Let those who would be
truly sanctified search the word of God with patience, with prayer, and with
humble contrition of soul. Let them remember that Jesus prayed, 'Sanctify
them through Thy truth: Thy word is, truth.' "—Ellen G. White, in
Review
and Herald,
March 25, 1902.
"We want the sanctification that God Himself gives, and that sanctification
comes through doing His law. We hear the heavenly benediction pronounced
upon the obedient by Christ Himself: 'Blessed are they that do His com-
mandments, that they-may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city.'
"—Ibid.,
July 15, 1890.
12.
Through what are we sanctified? Heb. 10:10, last part.
NoTE.—We are not sanctified "once for all;" it is the offering of Christ
that was "once for all."
"Wrongs cannot be righted, nor can reformations in character be made,
by a few feeble, intermittent efforts. Sanctification is the work, not of a day,
or of a year, but of a lifetime. The struggle for conquest over self, for holiness
and heaven, is a lifelong struggle. Without continual effort and constant
activity, there can be no advancement in the divine life, no attainment of the
victor's crown.
"The strongest evidence of man's fall from a higher state is the fact That
it costs so much to return. The way of return can be gained only by hard
fighting, inch by inch, every hour. By momentary act of will, one may place
himself in the power of evil; but it requires more than a momentary act of
will to break these fetters, and attain to a higher, holier life. The purpose may
be formed, the work begun; but its accomplishment will require toil, time,
and perseverance, patience, and
sacrifice."—TeStimonies, vol.
8, pp. 312, 313.
[ 34 ]